Free stuff is always cool, and when that free stuff just happens to be two polished and relatively well-received strategy games, all the better. For the next 48 hours or so, you can snag Syndicate revival Satellite Reign via the Humble Store and the Heroes of Might & Magic-ish Eador: Masters of the Broken World via its Steam page here completely free to keep forever, no strings attached.

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Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>

I never completed Satellite Reign, because fellow journo and one-time board game co-conspirator Matt Lees told me something that completely demolished my enjoyment of it. I won t tell you that thing unless you come with me below the line, because I want you to know that this game is pretty good and you shouldn t listen to me. It s an isometric neon haze of cool cyberpunk freedom fighters who will get in and out of scrapes in supreme style, in a vast city that looks just as cool as anything Deus Ex has thought up. I recommend it. That s all. You can go now. … [visit site to read more]

A syndicate of one is no syndicate at all. It’s a small business at best. Something you run on the kitchen table. An Etsy store, maybe. No, if you want to be a syndicate – a megacorp – you really need cool killer cyborg pals. So huzzah! After a stretch in open beta, the Syndicate-inspired tactical cybersquad action of Satellite Reign [official site] is launching its four-player co-op. Four isn’t quite enough to be a syndicate but it’s perhaps enough to consider hiring a small office in an arcology.

… [visit site to read more]

When I consider Satellite Reign [official site] as a whole, a grand canvas spattered with raindrops, neon and bulletholes, I’m in love with it. Yes, it looks and feels a little like Syndicate, but 5 Lives’ Kickstarted RTS-RPG does not slavishly follow a model from the past. Its city is open, a series of district-hubs with opportunities and mission locations scattered across them, and there are many possible routes to victory.

Satellite Reign is, from the wide-scan satellite’s view, a thing of beauty and promise. But I’ve been down in the streets for the last few days to take a closer look at the city. Here’s wot I think.>

… [visit site to read more]

I haven’t played Satellite Reign’s [official site] yet. It’s been in Early Access since December last year but I’m excited enough for a spiritual successor to Syndicate that I decided to wait till its rain-slick streets and neon signs were at their moody best. That’s now due to happen in ten days when the game launches on August 28th, and there’s a new launch trailer below.

… [visit site to read more]

Rain-soaked, neon-drenched and corporate-haunted, Satellite Reign’s [official site] urban setting is the kind of near-future city that feels like a convincing world of tomorrow. Through sleep-starved eyes, this morning’s launch video looks a bit like the ‘world of last Saturday night’, to be honest. It’s a gorgeous Syndicate-inspired team-based tactical shooter / ARPG hybrid and after a long stay in the augmentation chambers of Early Access, it’s almost ready for release.

… [visit site to read more]

Don’t panic, I mean the original one, not the forgettable Starbreeze shooter (though it did have a decent multiplayer mode). Given Recent Events it’s a good time to look back at glory days Molyneux/Bullfrog, a time when that studio’s games were rewriting the rulebook. So, I heartily recommend grabbing Syndicate from Origin today, given it’s currently free. … [visit site to read more]